Not.
We're all a bunch of tools. And we need to change. It's about time we developed a little self-respect.
In the Democratic House, a Reverend was denied entry to the Betrayus Hearings because he was wearing a button that said, "I love the Iraqi people." In Democratic America, it is evidently appropriate to ban a man from public spaces because of their political sentiments.
And oh yeah... It's OK to tear up the ligaments in his ankles too... And to arrest and charge him with a crime.
Democratic Congress or Duma?
NOT ONE RED CENT
(flip for much more)
I'm just getting started, but before I go further I've just got to say this: not one red cent. We can't cut off the funding for the war, but we can damn sure cut off funding for the Democrats in Congress that have done everything in their power to fuck us gently. Yeah, we thought the Vaseline was a nice gesture, but we should have looked more closely - there's sand in it.
BlogPac stands ready to ramp up the fight. Primary challenges. More netroots candidates. Loyalty. Morality. Authenticity. Above all, effectiveness. BlogPac promises that to you, and we've got a record of keeping our promises. Contrast that with your elected leaders.
So yeah. Not one red cent for Democrats. Support BlogPac instead.
The Democrats despise us. It's time we return the sentiment.
Not one red cent.
Aside from the Reverend Yearwood incident, consider this:
House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminal contempt resolution against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for several weeks, and possibly longer, according to top lawmakers and aides.
[key words: "possibly longer"... Does anyone here not understand "possibly longer" to really mean "forever"? If you doubt it, please make it your highest priority in life to locate and purchase a clue. (ed.)]
...the slowdown, approved by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her top lieutenants, is also stirring objections among Democrats.
[once this course is embarked upon, impeachment becomes imperative. We all know where Rahm and Nancy stand regarding one of our highest priorities... Given that dynamic, the issue crystallizes in a way that should disturb every one of us: Nancy Pelosi's and Rahm Emmanuel's agenda (to delay, stall and obfuscate) aligns perfectly with George Bush's and Dick Cheney's... ed.]
Oh, well, it's not like we're being betrayed... It's not like there were promises made...
Uh-oh...
Democrats had vowed to take up the issue when Congress returned from its August break, with Democratic leaders declaring that any failure to do so would undermine the ability of Congress to conduct its constitutionally mandated oversight role.
"Congress will act to preserve and protect our criminal justice system and to ensure appropriate congressional oversight in all areas essential to the well-being of the American people," Pelosi said back then.
So yeah... Promises, schmamises...
<snippet of cloakroom conversation>
It's only the kooks in the netroots that care about this stuff. We can fuck them - so long as we go to their conventions and whisper sweet (literally) nothings into their ears, well, they'll keep our campaign coffers flush, walk our precincts and write nice things about us on the internets... What a bunch of rubes!
</snippet>
Hillary had 10 minutes to ask (itsa)Crock and Betrayus questions yesterday. After a minute of praise and 6 minutes of milquetoast criticism, she asked 2 questions.
The first: "General, I want to ask you about what appeared to be a contradiction in your testimony. Earlier today you were asked by Senator Biden, 'If in fact the circumstances on the ground are exactly what they are today in March of next year, will you recommend the continuation of somewhere between 130,000 and 160,000 American troops being shot at, killed and maimed every day?' Your answer 'I would be very hard pressed to recommend that at that time.' In response to Senator Collins who asked I thought a very important question about, 'What if in a year from now, there has been very little progress?' your answer was, 'Well, we would have to consider what to do at that time.' General, don't you think the American people deserve a very specific answer about what is expected from our country in the face of the failure of the Iraqi government to pursue its own required political agenda that they have essentially been unwilling or incapable of doing so?"
I'm not going to criticize her for her George Bushian language constructs, but I want to make this clear: this was not a tough question. There are any number of more relevant and useful questions - questions that would have generated some news that would have added to the groundswell of populist opinion required to end the war quickly. She had the entire summer to develop a line of inquiry. Instead, she chose to use her ten minutes talking about electricity in Baghdad and the difficulty of the jobs Crocker and Betrayus are tasked with.
You don't have to be a mental giant to read between these lines: Clinton wants the war to continue. A little misdirection here, some kabuki over there, lip-service constantly... but she hasn't done shit to end the fucking war.
Is Obama any better? Here's my liveblog:
Troops really really wonderful. Crocker wonderful. General wonderful. Hard decisions. Costs and benefits. This discussion bad to have on 9/11, 9/10 or 9/12. Certainly don't want to relitigate decision to go into Iraq. Bluster, bluster, trillion dollars, increased terrorism, sound of his own voice, more sound of his own voice... he's got ten minutes, we're at 3 and he still ahsn't asked a question... energizer bunny... still stating obvious... still going... still going... certainly not criticizing general or ambassador... criticism of administration... kicking "a"-"s"-"s"... 5 minutes now, no questions... actually says, "based on MY testimony"... he thinks this, he thinks that... actually complains that he hasn't much time left for questions... two minutes later, with less than 2 1/2 minutes left, he finally asks a question: under what conditions will you recommend a withdrawal of troops?
Again, no serious questioning regarding the manifest dishonesty of this whole exercise - nothing that calls into question the legitimacy of this entire stage-managed exercise. One question (that Betrayus didn't even involve himself in)...
We've developed all sorts of contoured and well framed criticism of this war... We, in the blogosphere, have documented corruption, malfeasance, incompetence and a profound vacuum of integrity in Iraq leadership. None of it came up in his testimony.
The point I'm making here is that there is nobody in the Democratic leadership fighting for us. There are individually good Democrats - Howard Dean, Russ Feingold, Kirsten Gillibrand, Maxine Waters, Dennis Kucinich, the 30-somethings... But as a whole, our party has marginalized us to the extent of turning us into a political laughing stock. We just keep reaching for our wallets and assuming the position. We're kicked in the teeth, stabbed in the back, punched in the gut, poked in the eye and thrown under the bus. Like an abused spouse, we stagger to our feet and ask how we can do more to help.
It's time to stop enabling our abusers. It's time for a little solidarity and self-respect.
Take the pledge.
NOT ONE RED CENT
Instead, stand with BlogPac.
Right now, the first $300 raised will go to fund Jonas Phillips 1st Amendment case. You will remember Jonas as the patriot from Asheville, NC that was arrested for holding a sign above a freeway overpass that said "IMPEACH BUSH CHENEY". He's a wonderful half of a wonderfully progressive couple and the last person that should ever be persecuted - or prosecuted. Unfortunately, the state is doing both...
Anything raised over the $300 will be used for BlogPac Hero awards and for seeding projects specially selected by BlogPacs board for their potential to positively advance a progressive (not necessarily institutionally Democratic) agenda.
As you know, BlogPac is run by two of the most ruthlessly progressive personalities in the sphere - Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers. I've not agreed with them at every turn, but I can say something about them and BlogPac that I cannot even dream of saying about Democrats: they've never lied to me, betrayed me or been anything less than totally committed to the cause of advancing the progressive agenda. And it's nice being able to ask for money for the unequivocally good guys.
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